November 2010

November 09, 2010

The US Patent and Trademark Office officially published a series of eight newly granted patents for Apple Inc. today which includes two design patents relating to their Universal Dock. Yet there's no doubt that the key granted patent of the day belongs to one relating to a light sensitive display which one day may be used with iOS devices. The unique aspect of this display rests with its ability to work with laser and/or light pens. While Steve Jobs may have vetoed the classic dumbed-down stylus for iOS devices, he never discounted the future use of advanced light pens. This is Apple's second patent relating to laser pen technology which may very well indicate that this option remains viable for future implementation.

November 08, 2010

Today's projection-type capacitive touch-panels are becoming increasingly popular with their adoption in devices like Apple's iPhone. Compared to resistive films, however, projection-type designs have been limited in terms of the range of objects that they could sense. But a next generation touch technology may find its way into next generation 2011 iOS devices to change all of that.

During a recent Special Event, Apple's CEO Steve Jobs provided us with a peek into four key attributes coming to the next major operating system upgrade due next summer called "Lion." Specifically, Jobs reviewed the fundamentals of Lion's Mac App Store, Launchpad, Full Screen Apps and Mission Control. What Jobs didn't reveal was something called "scrollable menus and toolbars." This possible new OS X Lion feature came to light late last week in a new European patent filing. The new feature is clearly identified as one being designed for both the desktop (OS X) and handheld devices (iOS) – which is what OS X Lion is all about: "The Power of OS X – The Magic of iPad." Apple's Full Screen App feature is about simplifying the desktop and their latest scrollable menus and toolbars concept extends upon that very thinking.

November 04, 2010

Not all patent reports are as much fun as reading about a new laser tagging game and framework from Apple. Yet sometimes it's as, or even more interesting to read about some of the more hum-drum type of devices and technologies that Apple's engineers are working on in their labs - because they're more likely to get implemented than the flashier patents. One such patent involves new battery techniques. Another is found in this current patent report which presents you with a glimpse at what Apple is doing to thwart the efforts of reverse engineering. Apple is working on several avenues on this front and we'll give you a peek at what they're up to.

I don't know about you, but sometimes the geekiest and littlest of inventions seems to turn my head. One of today's published patent applications is a case in point. It's a simple idea that makes you wonder why no one has ever come up with this before. Apple has figured out a way to use the heat of the CPU of one device to power up another device's battery which is dangerously cold – so that you could power up your dying devices safer and quicker.

A newly published Apple patent presents us with a simple, elegant and convenient method for sharing date securely over mobile devices using … shhh … secret codes. Apple's patent covers sharing information when using social networking applications.

Apple's Game Center was introduced in September in conjunction with their revised iPod touch. In one of today's newly published patent applications, we see that Apple is getting very serious about interactive multiplayer games. In fact, Apple's entire patent discusses the makeup of a cool multiplayer laser tagging game and its related geopositioning technologies. The game uses virtual lasers and could allow for future gaming headsets so that you and your friends could coordinate that killer ambush. Sounds like fun to me.

November 02, 2010

The US Patent and Trademark Office officially published a series of 14 newly granted patents for Apple Inc. today. Two of these patents cover design wins relating to their fifth generation iPod nano and their third generation iPod shuffle. Beyond their design wins, the notables within this group cover a wide range of technology includinga system for replacing corrupted media files on portable devices, methods of controlling LED backlighting, Apple's iTunes Party Shuffle and a security system for portables that may go beyond Apple's current "Find my iPhone" application.